Here are a few gems that made me laugh. Enjoy!
I always see skinny people running.
It was so hot in there I almost sweat my perm out.
Girl 1: Look. That bumper sticker says “I miss Bill.”
Girl 2: Who’s Bill?
Girl 1: Bill Clinton!
Girl 2: Well . . . where he at?
My daughter ate a Christmas ornament. That’s right. One of those round, glass tree ornaments. We walked in and she was crunching away on a red one. At least she’ll always have the circus to fall back on.
Don’t worry. She’s fine.
This little dress was hand knit by a very dear friend in Peru. She gave it to us just before we moved back to the U.S. It now fits Sophia perfectly.
If there is one thing I’ve seen here at the Promise House, it’s pain. Not so much my own, but the girls’. Week after week these kids get jilted by their families and/or their baby’s father. Imagine the kind of pain you might feel you might feel if the only person you have to hold on to no longer cares about you. Maybe you don’t have to imagine it.
Every little thing is gonna be alright. That’s part of a song by Delirious?. I believe it’s true. It might take a while, but everything is going to be ok. And, more than that, pain and sadness are often necessary for growth to occur, for peace and joy to take root (Jn. 16:7). Jesus walks with us and strengthens us through times of brokenness so that we not only survive them, but come out on the other side with a deeper connectedness to him and a clear perspective of what life is all about.
I feel like a jumbled mass of motives and wants and intentions all pulling me in a different direction. My life feels messy. I guess that’s probably just how life is. Just like a big bowl of spaghetti.
Sometimes I think following God equals being in solitude, saying prayers, and thinking only of ‘heavenly things‘. But, that’s not it at all. Not by a long shot. God is so much more organic and creative and messy than that. Far from the monastery I am. Instead of solitude I live in a house full of voices and feelings and emotions. Instead of ‘heavenly things’ I am obliged to think about dirty diapers, hurting teenagers, and hot dogs on the grill. Instead of long, deep-voiced prayers my conversation with God usually amounts too “Help me God!”.
My life is messy. Yet, through all these things I am with God and he is with me. He is speaking to me. He is teaching me. He is shaping me. All of that happens by means of the things he has me doing everyday . . . not in spite of them.
We made a quick trip to Hot Springs with all the girls yesterday to visit Perrion. She lives in Shreveport, but is visiting family over the holidays. That’s Dennis she is holding, her son. He looks a lot different now. You can see him when he was just a few days old at the bottom of this page.
Life is hard. And for some folks, just where they are born and the family they are born into makes life really hard. Perrion seems to be doing pretty well though. At 15, with a ten month old, she is doing the best she knows.
A friend emailed this to me last week. You can find it at http://marshillchurch.org. My favorite part is the third paragraph. What do you think?
When it comes to doctrine, culture, preferences, traditions, lifestyles, politics, behavior, etc., Mars Hill Church takes a “closed-hand/open-hand” approach. The closed hand hangs onto the non-negotiable tenets of Christian orthodoxy: sin is the problem, Jesus is the answer, the Bible is true, and Hell is hot.
The open hand, however, allows room for differences when it comes to secondary matters; we liberally allow freedom for conscience and wisdom to guide where the Bible is silent. The open hand fosters unity among the diversity of expressions found in the Mars Hill congregation: Democrats and Republicans, soccer moms and indie rockers, carnivores and vegans, trendy bohemians and Microsoft nerds.
Hence, Mars Hill Church is in favor of good beer (in moderation), great sex (in marriage), and even tattoos (Jesus has one). But our goal must always be love and concern for our friends so that we don’t enjoy our freedom at the expense of their faith.
In this way, we are seeking to simultaneously heed the Bible’s commands to have sound doctrine (1Timothy 4:16; Titus 1:9, 2:1), to love our Christian brothers and sisters (1 Peter 4:8; 1 John 4:7-21), and to avoid unnecessary divisions (Romans 16:17; 1 Corinthians 1:10, 12:25; Titus 3:10).
My mom is the most creative person I know. She is an artist. And a pretty darn good one too. There is never a lack of demand for her services. This will give you an idea. She decided that she wanted to knit Sophia a hat or two for Christmas. The problem was that she didn’t know how to knit. So, about a week before Christmas she started learning. And this is what she did. I love you mom! Your rock the casa.
I’ll try to post some more stuff of her work. It is amazing.
We’re already planning our trip to Memphis next year when American Idol comes through. Hopefully they’ll be accepting duets by then. Do you think they’ll make the cut?
Tyndale is publishing the book “Pagan Christianity” by Frank Viola and George Barna. It’s due out in January, but it’s already making people mad. Which only leads me to assume that it must be really good.
Here’s the argument the book makes: “Most of what present-day Christians do in church each Sunday is rooted not in the New Testament, but in pagan culture and rituals developed long after the death of the apostles.”
And the authors go on to make the point that this is not necessarily reason to throw them out, but that they should be re-evaluated and, in some cases, demoted.
Church buildings, sermons, choirs, seminaries, dressing up for church and a lot of other things church folk consider the important are called into question.
I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I actually get a chance to read it.
Sophia is Peruvian. Actually, she is a Peruvian citizen and a U.S. citizen. She was born in Lima, Peru and lived the first 5 months of her life there. So, she got an alpaca for Christmas. Alpacas are indigenous to Peru and Ecuador. (For more on our life in Peru, visit the archives.)
Where does one get an Alpaca? Here, of course! So, I guess you’ve figured out that she didn’t actually get an Alpaca. But, somebody in Peru or Ecuador is going to get one from Sophia.
We thought it would be an appropriate crescendo to our anticipation (see advent calendar), using our resources to labor alongside Jesus to bring hope to one of Sophia’s fellow Peruvians.
It was a three-generation affair. Me, my dad, and my grandma (my dad’s mom) braved the inclement weather to watch the Arkansas Razorbacks get beat by Appalachain St. (sigh) at Alltel Arena in Little Rock. Despite the loss, it was a blast. Good times with the fam and a hoarse voice from yelling at bad calls always constitutes a good day. It sure felt good to do the hog call again with my fellow Arkansans.
Merry Christmas amigos!
Sophia is enjoying her first Christmas in the good ole’ USofA. We hope that, this Christmas, God helps you understand just how cool he thinks you are.
Me showing Sophia how it works! That thumb is precariously close to getting popped!
Wow. This was shot was taken by Grant Harrison somewhere in North Little Rock. Click on the picture to get the full effect.
I think it’s great that his neighbors have absolutely nothing up for Christmas.
So what does Christmas at the Promise House look like? Well, right now it looks empty. It’s Christmas Eve and all the girls in our care left early this morning with their families. They aren’t due back until 9pm.
Holidays are tricky around here. Never do we miss those we love more than during the holidays. When you have a houseful of hormonal pregnant teenagers missing their families you’ve got the potential for a Code Red Meltdown.
Despite the dangers, we will celebrate Christmas tomorrow. The key: Activity. We will keep them busy. A big breakfast, followed by present opening, followed by playing with presents, followed by lunch, followed by a movie, followed by Christmas light watching . . . you get the picture.
Speaking of Christmas lights . . . there’s this guy in North Little Rock . . . well, I’ll just put up another post.
God redeems. He brings beauty out of dirty, messy, broken places. It doesn’t get much more broken than Cindy Beall’s marriage. Cindy’s courage alone to share her story is amazing.
The story is shattering. That’s really the best word I can think of for it, because it shattered some things in me: my heart, some stereotypes, notions of forgiveness and grace, and my weak understanding of God’s redemptive beauty. Read it for yourself:
Our Story. . .
The Day Everything Changed
What Now?
My Word From God
Let the Healing Begin
Better Than New
She posted it on her blog over a six day period. You can click on each of the links of the story above to read it day by day. Or you can just go to her blog.
Two days away from the big day. I’ll let Linus take it from here. Click here
Amanda, Sophia, and I spent the last two days in Lamar with the Bush family. We went out to the property (on which my parents are slowly building their dream home) in Ozark. Here are a few shots of Sophia. There are more on flickr.
Prince Caspian is coming. I have to admit I’m pretty pumped about a second Narnia installment. Anyone want to go watch it with me?
Just in case you missed the story yesterday, THV has posted on the website. You can read about it and watch the segment. Click here. I guess we’ll postpone the boycott for today at least.
This is pretty cool. And speaking of having more money than 90% of the world, you should check out Kiva. It’s a way to lend to small businesses in developing countries. I decided to give it a try and lended to Marianella in Peru. I’ll keep you updated on how it pans out.
Also, if you’re looking for a meaningful Christmas idea, I have a friend who is giving her daughter a Kiva gift certificate for Christmas.
First, they don’t show the housedad, then the whole story gets bumped off the 10pm broadcast!! I feel punked. Today’s THV just made it on the PH blacklist. Sorry if you stayed up for it.
I’m calling for a boycott against all THV broadcasts by all Family Bush blog readers!
Me neither! I guess they decided not to use any of the stuff with me in it. They didn’t show our girls face either like we had gotten permission to do. They did, however, use a very dizzy shot of Kylee’s head. If you’d like to see what she really looks like, click here or here.
Oh well, like we say in the biz (show business that is), that’s how the cookie crumbles.
I’m sure you’ve heard about this. Today’s THV (Channel 11) called at about noon wanting to come out and interview some of our girls about what they think about the whole situation. They story will air at 5, 6, and 10 tonight. Tell your friends!
You’ll be surprised to see one of our girls’ face. The powers that be got special permission for to be shown. I’m on there too . . . I’m the one with the beard.
Here’s a video of Sophia from lunch today for all you stalkers fans out there. There are a couple of things to watch for:
1) Sophia does not have a head-shaking disorder. She shakes her head like that because she likes how her hair feels bouncing against her head. It’s just now getting long enough to feel it.
2) You get to hear Sophia’s Spanish skills first hand. At one point I ask her “Quieres más pan?”. That means “Do you want more bread?” She responds by saying “Más.” and holding her hands out.
3) Finally, you’ll see her doing the hand motions to itsy-bitsy spider. You can hear her saying “itsy-bitsy”.
Ok, that’s it. Enjoy!
Recent Comments